NOVEMBER 1, 2013

De la Rosa ready to replace ill Hulkenberg

Pedro de la Rosa is poised to fill in at Sauber, should Nico Hulkenberg not recover from a bout of 'Delhi belly'.

Reports by the Spanish sports newspapers AS and Marca say former team driver de la Rosa, now the Ferrari reserve, is first in line for the Abu Dhabi seat, after Hulkenberg spent all of Thursday unwell in his hotel.

"I don't know about this particular case," de la Rosa told AS correspondent Manuel Franco.

"But it is true that there is a sort of agreement that if anything would ever happen that there is this important relationship between Sauber and Ferrari for the engines.

"But in this case, no one has spoken to me," the 42-year-old added.

Asked if de la Rosa is on standby, a Sauber spokesman said: "If he (Hulkenberg) doesn't recover, then we would have to look at other solutions.

"But we hope that he is well for practice on Friday."

(GMM)